Winter Solitude
by Wolfish Familiar
Summary: Kagerou finds it difficult spending winter days by the lake alone since the water's surface has frozen over. So she finds other ways of entertaining herself, but nothing can really take the place of the mermaid, can it? (takes place before DDC)


A harsh winter breeze flowed through the entrance of a small cavity beneath a cluster of trees, waking the inhabitant residing inside. Groaning as they curled into themselves for warmth, a tail laying over them as they began to fall asleep once more. But the weather would not allow them to drift back into slumber as another breeze flew into the cave, making the inhabitant sigh as she opened her eyes, removing her tail from on top of her, shaking the snow that fell overnight from it and her hair and ears. Sleepily gazing over the terrain, her ears twitching as they pick up the rustle of the forest. Another harsh wind blew by, and the brunette was forced to shut her eyes until it past, completely awake now. Yawning as she made to stand up, and climb out of the small cave she calls home. Sighing as she begins to stretch, the feeling in her limbs returning after the night's rest. Glancing into the cave, Kagerou pondered if she should get more quilt and furs if she wonders by the Human Village sometime. But not today, instead she'll walk to the lake, in hopes to visit her friend.

With an exhale of breath, that is visible to see in the cold morning, Kagerou leaned into the cave and retrieved her boots and her dark red cloak, quickly putting them on and grabbing a small basket before making her way towards the lake. Snow crunching under her feet as she walked, sometimes dancing in the white, fluffy sheet. Creating patterns in the, until now untouched snow. To her left, she spotted the raven haired tengu, photographing the scenery. Moving every so often to capture pure serenity during the early hours of the morning, in essence a rare sight to see the reporter moving calmly. Kagerou thought to say hello to alert her presence, but decided against it to not disturb her. In any case, the reporter may have noticed her regardless and had just simply ignored her for peace and quiet, so continued on. Picking berries and fruit of trees, eating them along the way. She shivered the moment the fruit hit her tongue, realising she could have waited a few minutes for them to warm up from her body temperature. Wincing as she felt the cold flow through her, placing the two apples she had picked into the pocket of her cloak, not wanting to go through the experience again. The thought quickly leaving her mind as she spotted branches that littered the ground, swiftly picking them up during her walk.

Kagerou looked up into the cloudy sky, wondering if it would snow once more throughout the day. She spotted the shrine maiden and magician flying through the sky, most likely heading towards the Human Village. The brunette sighed through her nose as she continued walking, tripping on branch roots every now and then under the thick snow. Another harsh breeze flew by, causing her cloak to billow out behind her, making it difficult to walk as she clawed at the cloak to get a firm grip on it to wrap it around herself to keep warm. Not noticing what is in front of her as a low hanging branch smacked her in the face, staggering backwards in shock before tripping on the ends of her cloak, ultimately falling over. Snow from the branch falling on her as she looked up, finally noticing the ice fairy grinning mischievously as she punched the air in triumph, and her fellow comrades. Kagerou only glared at them as she made to stand, not wanting to give them more attention than she already has. Walking past them without a second glance, that is until the ice fairy blows a raspberry at her, mockingly waving her hands around. Kagerou swiftly turned and growled, warning them. Luckily the group quickly scarpered in different directions, grinning to herself as she continued on her way. Her day more cheerful than it was when she woke up.

It wasn't long until she came across the lake. It's deep blue colour from summer was replaced with winter white, thick sheet of ice covering the expanse of water as far as her eyes could see. Walking to the shoreline, Kagerou frowned. The ice seems thicker than the day before, the temperature must have dropped throughout the night. Spotting a medium sized stone, she picked it up and threw it as hard as she could over the ice, making it skid across quickly. Speeding away from the brunette before slowly down towards the center, then falling into the water beneath as the thin ice under the stone cracked and caved. Kagerou frowned once again, she didn't want to risk her life to get to that spot, especially since she weighed more the the stone that sank to the bottom of the lake. So instead, she walked around the shore finding a half sunken tree trunk embedded in the ice. It seems to be hollowed out, looking more like a makeshift/poor attempt of a boat that was sinking due to a unforeseen leakage. But it was the resting place by the lake Kagerou knew of, as she made to climb inside it and lay down, propping herself up with the walls of the tree. She lay there for a while, watching the clouds drift in the sky, sometimes pondering what they look like, mostly they were animals or bizarre shapes the brunette couldn't figure out. Maybe she could ask that grey haired shopkeeper that manages the antique shop when she has the chance.

She quickly became bored of cloud gazing as she sat up and rummaged around in the small basket she brought along. Taking out the small, hollow logs and sticks she picked up during her walk here and taking out a small pocket knife from a pocket of her dress. Taking in full concentration, she began debarking the logs to transform them into a piece of artwork. The brunette mostly focused on making small wooden instruments as they are highly sought after within the village, but when she can, she makes intricate artworks to pass the time. This could also be considered as honing her skills of woodcarver, but the thought never really crosses her mind. But what did cross her mind was of a request she was asked from a fairly young wolf like youkai. It was clear to her that this youngling was still quite under experienced. Well, watching the young one try to fight against Sekibanki was one thing (and the redhead was going easy on her), but to see the youngling struggling to cast magic just made the brunette feel sad for her. But she never expected the young youkai to even know who she is, even more so to be greeted by her and to be asked a favor.

Granted, Kagerou loved to be requested tasks to do as it keeps her busy, but she normally asks for payment before starting the project. Money she has a feeling the youngling won't have. But looking a the youkai's distraught face, which reminded the brunette of a kicked puppy, Kagerou thought it over and decided as long as the youngling provided the correct amount by the time it is completed, she can have it. As Kagerou thought over this memory sitting in the trunk, now realizing that had been a little foolish but trusted the young wolf and regardless, creating a bow staff takes patience and time to complete. Especially since the youngling wanted quite a lot of detail for it, in her own words, to look flashy. Kagerou still didn't exactly know what the youngling meant by that. She sighed, wondering if it was a good idea in the first place, but regardless, she could always start again if she needed to, the youkai doesn't need to to know that part at least. She sighed once more as she looked at the small log she was carving into, quickly realizing that it was the same design that youkai wanted. Kagerou grinned to herself, now having a draft she can copy from when she gets back to her home. Speaking of which, she should get back to as the sky looks like it's about to snow once more, and judging by the clouds, it's going to snow pretty heavily. Kagerou pocketed her knife and stood up, but the trunk shifted suddenly as ice beneath it cracked. Plunging one end on the trunk into the water, making Kagerou lose balance as she tripped on a knot, falling over. Ultimately letting go of the carving mid fall to sail through the air, the brunette to slow to catch it as it flew out of her reach onto the ice and skid even farther away closer to the opening the pebble she threw earlier. Watching horrified as the carving slowed, before toppling into the water to sink to the bottom.

Well, at least she wasn't in the water. But all that hard work, gone to waste. Kagerou was frozen, horrified before she whined in disappointment. Her ears folded back sadly. She heard someone not so far away telling her to shut up, most likely unaware who did it. On instinct, she barked in the general vicinity of the voice, before sighing and packing away anything else that hadn't rolled off the log. Stretching as she stood up, slowly making her way back onto solid ground, taking out an apple from her pocket and biting into it disgruntledly. Looking over the frozen lake with sharp eyes.

Why does it have to be one of the colder times in winter? The wind is bitterly cold and any puddles of water are frozen over, making it even more easily to slip and fall. The morning fog makes it almost impossible to traverse through the forest without incident, and worst of all, Kagerou won't be able to see Wakasagi for at least two months due to the ice on the lake. The thought made her ears droop. At much as she likes the winter months, it's not the same without the mermaid to brighten up her day. She sighed again before making her way back to her home, kicking small rocks and slapping branches out the way.

/-/

Kagerou pulled her hood further down her face, nervously glancing around. Although the civil youkai are welcomed into the Human Village, mostly if not always with resentment and hatred. Which is what Kagerou is experiencing at this moment, although indirect. But she couldn't help feel a pair of eyes angrily boring into her like daggers as she looks through the selection of furs on sale. She already made the mistake of looking at said human before and would rather not be humiliated and paraded through the streets like a common household pet. She has standards for deity's sake! But at least Sekibanki got a kick out of it and to the brunette's dismay, relayed what had happened (heavily exaggerated mind) to the mermaid. However, the wolf couldn't stay mad as Wakasaki chuckled, barely able to contain her laughter at the story. Kagerou sighed as she recalled the memory, already missing the lilt in the mermaid's voice.

"if you're going to buy something, can you be quicker please? I have waiting customers and your loitering in my shop."

Kagerou closed her eyes, deep breath in and hold. Then release slowly, clearing her head of of any negativity as she grabbed the furs she was contemplating on buying earlier and brought them to the counter. Deciding to not comment that she was the only one in the shop to stop anyone from getting what they wanted. Well, it's a sure fired way of getting kicked out (literally) and barred from the shop permanently, but either way is a lose-lose situation regardless. Kagerou placed the furs on the counter and fished out her purse, already expecting the payment.

As usual, the price is risen more than it should be. An unofficial rule, which is also unspoken within the village, is to bring the price of anything higher when it comes to any Youkai. It's mostly to ward off any unruly ones that would most likely not have any money on them and keep them out, but that doesn't really stop them regardless. But at least the wolf came prepared, which shocked the shopkeeper slightly. But that was quickly replaced with a frown and a tired sigh as they took the money from kagerou, once again glaring at her. She didn't second guess and high tailed it out of there with the furs in hand.

She sighed as she continued through the village, making her way to the market that was going on in the center. Not far from where she stood, Kagerou could see the Rokurokubi wandering around the stalls, stopping every so often to marvel at what was displayed. Kagerou made to call out, but stopped and remembered that the redhead is pretending to be a human. So calling out to her would make...whatever it is she planning, redundant since every human in the vicinity would figure it out.

Then again, just by her fashion sense, Kagerou wondered why the humans haven't even suspected the redhead of being a youkai. Compared to the bland clothing, there's not much to argue against.

Kagerou sighed as she continued her way through the market. Passing by the redhead, but pretending to not know her. But instead of just passing by, the redhead seemed to walk straight into the wolf.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there."

Kagerou smiled, nodding before stepping out the way to let the Rokurokubi past.

/-/

Kagerou stared into the thick sheet of glass harshly, sighing under her breath as as she sat on the snowy shoreline of the lake. It seems thicker than yesterday, as she glanced to the hollowed tree that looks to be embedded further into it from when the ice under it cracked. But it still looked safe.

Sort of.

Regardless, Kagerou stood up and proceeded to the trunk and climbed inside. At least it protected her from the harsh winds, although sitting at an incline isn't the most comfortable. Kagerou sighed as she leaned back to lay down to stare into the sky as like yesterday. As always, the lake seems quiet compared to the forest. Too many youkai dueling, the magician causing trouble, and the insects. Waking up to find them crawling into her living space doesn't feel nice. Well, at least it wasn't like the time she found tics, the wolf shuddered at the memory of removing them. Since she has made sure they never return.

Minutes pass as kagerou beings to feel tired and her eyes slowly close. Lulled into a deep sleep to the sound of the creaking of the tree.

She suddenly woke a few hours later to violent movement. Realising that the other side of the tree, where she was sat, was cracking the ice underneath. Kagerou made to sit up and quickly get out, but with another crack in the ice, she was thrown out hard onto the ice, skidding to a short stop.

She gasped at the cold sensation on her back. Gaining her senses back as she lifted her head to see where the shoreline is. It didn't look very far, so she gingerly moved inch by inch. But it wasn't long until she heard muffled tapping underneath the ice. Carefully turning her head, she spotted a hand and then blue hair, grinning widely as she turned her body so that she was facing the ice. Matching the grin that adorned the mermaid as she placed her hands flat against the ice where wakasagi's were. In which she noticed the block of wood grasped in the mermaid's hand. Her ears perk up in delight as she realised what it was, quietly chuckling to herself as Wakasaki backflipped in the water in delight before noticing something that was out of Kagerou's line of sight and swimming towards it. Kagerou turned around curiously, wondering what it was that caught the mermaid's eye. Then she spotted it, a crack in the ice. It was close to the tree that is now mostly submerged in the water underneath, which must have caused it. But regardless, kagerou pushed herself across the ice to reach it, noticing the mermaid was already there waiting. The cracks looked deep enough, but they needed another hit before the ice could break. Quickly thinking, Kagerou made to sit up and position her heel above the weakened ice and kicked it as hard as she could, which completely shattered on impact. Rushing forward to drag the floating ice out of the water eagerly, wanting to finally see Wakasaki after several week. Not caring if the ice stings at her hands at how cold they were, she just wanted to see the mermaid. With the last piece of ice discarded, Kagerou leaned over eagerly. She didn't expect the mermaid to jump out of the water quickly, even less when Wakasaki continued her motion and leaned into Kagerou, placing her lips on the Brunette's softly.

Pulling away, she noted how pink Kagerou's face was and giggled. The Brunette pouted, but it wasn't long until her resolve faded into joy and slight embarrassment. Maybe this winter isn't going to be so bad.

* * *

 **AN:** trying to write with no written dialogue is actually difficult, as with the direction I wanted to go required it to make sense without overly explaining things. Regardless, I wanted to write something lighthearted with a character I haven't written about. Which was Kagerou surprisingly, hopefully that'll change in time ^.^ But this originally was going to be a fic where Kagerou gets a pair of skates and fails to ice skate with them, but I couldn't figure out how to implement that xD

The unnamed other wolf youkai mentioned is an incomplete oc of mine, I'm slowing introducing them into some of the fics I'll be writing until I'm confident to actually start writing the oc as a main character. But for now they're just part of the background.


End file.
